that's going to do it for us tonight. tomorrow, the united states of america will officially rejoin the paris climate accord. back to the land of the living. we'll see you again tomorrow. it's time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. good evening, lawrence. >> good evening. we have four guests joining us from texas. i could be sitting here alone at any moment given that the power could go out at any one of their locations. the first two are the brothers julian castro and joaquin castro, secretary castro, congressman castro, joining us

together. they've been without power, been without water this week and they have a story to tell about what it's been like in texas. >> i spoke with lina hidalgo and trying to let the country know what's going on because the state needs help from the country. but to see the state collapse there, it is a scary thing with that many people in it. >> and it is tragically predictable the way that power system is set up there. >> exactly. >> thank you, rachel. the one thing the junior senator from texas never has is the element of surprise. no one is ever surprised by how low he can go. in 2016 senator lindsey graham said, "if you killed ted cruz on the floor of the senate and the trial was in the senate, nobody

would convict you." lindsey graham's willingness to say that publicly about a senator is proof of how universally senator cruz is disliked in the senate, including by some people he may think of as friends. the "new york times" has obtained text messages from friends of the cruz family that show heidi cruz saying that their house was freezing and inviting everyone in the neighborhood to join them at the ritz carlton in cancun where they have stayed several times. they told the neighbors they'd be coming back pr cancun on sunday. nbc news has learned his return flight was scheduled for sunday until it was suddenly changed at 6 a.m. this morning so that the senator to fly back to houston today, and the only reason

senator cruz came back to texas today is because he got caught sneaking off to cancun in the middle of a crisis, a life-threatening crisis for people in the state he is supposed to represent. and the reason he snuck off to cancun is because senator cruz does not understand what leadership is and like so many other elected officials, he does not understand what leadership does. he does not understand that leadership matters, but luckily for senator cruz, his local member of congress for represents him in the house of representatives does understand those things. congresswoman lizzy fletcher is a democrat and senator cruz lives in her houston district. she says texas is facing an all-hands-on-deck situation. she told the the "new york

times" that she's, quote, was out of power herself until wednesday and continued to charge her car in her phone to make calls to fema and other agencies, too busy to think about mr. cruz's decision to leave the state at this time. leadership matters, she said. our first guests tonight understand that leadership matters. they have not left texas during this crisis. they've been without power. they've been without water but congressman joaquin castro is struggling through the crisis just like his san antonio consistents and so is his brother, julian castro, who has also been without power and weather this week in his texas home. both showing us in a moment every member of the house and senate has people in their offices who are deer voted to -- devoted to what they call consistent services, many have

areas of expertise like immigration law. the phone never stops ringing from calls from people who desperately need help and need constituent service. constituent is service is what congressman lizzie fletcher has been doing all week for her constituents, senator cruz, and his names. while congressman joaquin castro was on the senate floor last week prosecuting donald trump in the senate impeachment trial, his staff in his district office in texas was working on constituent service. many of the calls for help the congressional staff handle are misdirect, they are problems involving city or state government instead of federal government but the good congressional staff don't give up just because the problem is not squarely within their jurisdiction. we saw a perfect example of this

from someone who provided constituent services for 36 years to the people of delaware. at a town hall this week, president biden took a question from the mother of a 19-year-old son who has pulmonary disease and is highly vulnerable to covid-19 and asked if her 19-year-old son could get the vaccine sooner than other 19-year-olds? president biden explained that the states decide exactly who qualifies for the vaccine and that he can make recommendations but he cannot order the states to change their priorities. it was a perfectly correct policy answer by a president. but a senator who handled constituent service questions like that in town halls for 36 years could not leave it there. >> but here's what i'd like to do. if you're willing, i'll stay around after this is over and maybe we can talk a few minutes and see if i can get you some help.

. >> america learned the hard wy you cannot teach empa think. but senator cruz -- >> you know tim russert's name because of his empathy. tim russert suddenly died of heart failure in 2008. he masters politics in partnership with senator moynihan. tim ran the small constituent service office that senator moynihan established in buffalo. and three weeks after senator moynihan was sworn in, buffalo was buried in the blizzard of

1977 with some snow drifts that were 27 feet high. tim russert got on the phone, urged senator moynihan to come as soon as possible and drafted a letter to the president for emergency assistants, which was then delivered to buffalo. when he arrived and saw tim russert handling that crisis, senator moynihan decided as soon as buffalo recovered from that blizzard he wanted tim russert to come to work in the washington office. tim russert never left washington. tim wrote this about his first year in the russell senate office building "my difficult moments came not with the press but with a few of moynihan's other staffers. they are serious, high-powered intellectuals, ivy league garage waltz. i was sometimes intimidated in their presence." tim russell worked on a garbage

truck to pay for his education. pat moynihan shined schools in times square when he was going to high school in harlem. when pat moynihan noticed his occasional discomfort and the educated, ivy league staffers, he took tim aside and said let me tell you something, what they know, they can learn. but what you know, they will never learn. ivy league educated senator cruz will never learn what tim russert knew and what joe biden personifies because empathy is not something you can memorize for the s.a.t.s. and in a crisis leadership matters. leading off our discussion tonight, julian castro, former mayor of san antonio texas, secretary of housing and urban vaechlt in the obama administration. and withes democratic congressman joaquin castro of texas, representing the san antonio area.

this is the first time i have had the brothers castro on together. it's a great honor. congressman, you've come off a very intense week of prosecuting donald trump in this senate trial and find yourself thrown into this crisis at home. what has it been like for you day to day? >> i thought the senate impeachment trial would be the highlight of my february. we wrapped that up saturday evening and i flew home early sunday morning and by sunday night my power was going off, just like it started going off for millions of texans and thousands of san antonians so my family and i were without power for about 55 hours. my mom, she had her water pipe bust and her garage is flooded with water right now. it's just been a real humanitarian disaster in texas.

it's been a failure of leadership and the government and energy commission and urcott to prepare the state for this. it times like this like the early days of the pandemic where in congress you have to tell your staff that whatever else you all are working on, you've got to focus very intensely for this period of time for just constituent services. we always do constituent services but this is when you get all the calls, emails, facebook messages, tweets, where everybody is desperate for help so that's what i've been focused on. >> secretary castro, you know from your time as mayor, your time working in the federal government that when a constituent, when people out there need help, they call whatever number they can find. it might be city hall, it might be a member of congress, it might be a federal agency of some kind that they can get on the phone, anyone they can get

on the phone. what has this week been like for you and what have you seen people going through as you've tried to struggle through this week yourself? >> well, i've seen a lot of people hurting, especially the most vulnerable people in our community. we're both here in san antonio. it's gotten into the single digits a couple nights ago, it's remained under freezing for the last few days. folks were homeless on the street, people who are medically compromised. i had to two neighbors who had to be evacuated. they rely on devices that need electricity. my family and i have had it a little better than joaquin and his family, our water was out for seven or eight hours but compared to a what a lot of

people have gone through, that's nothing. the san antonio food bank is establishing five mega sites to distribute free food to families and the san antonio water system tomorrow will have seven mega distribution sites around the san teen dr san antonio area to distribute clean water to families. that's where we're at. leadership is about being present right now. people need something in this crisis, they don't know who to call often. i can tell you this as a former mayor and as somebody that took these calls from elected officials when i served as secretary of hud, you better believe that it matters whether a united states senator is calling your department asking for something. thankfully fema is on the job. the biden administration very early on on sunday declared an

emergency declaration, fema is distributing 729 liters of clean water to texas, distributing 60,000 blankets, 225,000 meals in our state. so the federal government is actually doing its job, but it matters whether it's the elected officials who are the ones pressing the case. and that's what we've been missing here in terms of our state leaders and apparently some of our federal leadership as well. >> congressman castro, what reforms to the energy arrangements of texas do you believe should be made with what's been learned this week? >> oh, i mean, there's going to have to be a full investigation i think both federal and state investigations into what went wrong. we know some of those things because in 2011 the federal government actually recommended to urcott some reforms that they

should make and i don't know that they made any of those. so some of them we know. but ultimately the grid in texas has got to be better integrated with the rest of the country. and it got to be better prepared for these kinds of weather events. unfortunately in texas you've got people high up in state government who don't believe in climate science, who deny climate change, and also people who are absolutely married to the fossil fuel industry. so when you combined all of those things, it has made for, in this case, a dangerous mix. >> with with ercott, the first letter is for energy andthe last one is texas. the state officials have been trying to blame the dysfunction

of that system on people who have had nothing to do with the design of it. >> oh, that's right. greg abbott went on fox news and is trying to blame aoc and the green new deal, which is not even in place right now. this is not a break down in the system. this is a system that is broken down by design. a system that did not require the winterization of either the thermal production facilities or any other production facilities, did not incentivize it and a system that is allowing outrageous price gouging, price spikes, that went from $30 per mega watt hour to $ 9,000 per mega watt hour at the very time that texans need it the most. there was a report out today quoting one of the natural gas producers that said that this experience had been like hitting

the jackpot. these are the folks who are being rewarded. this is a tale as old as time of green and of cronyism that has led to the breakdown that we're seeing today. >> secretary julian castro and congressman joaquin castro, thank you both very much for joining us from texas tonight. we really appreciate it. thank you. >> and when we come back, former texas state senator wendy davis will join us. she has been struggling this week without power and without water in her own home and she has seen the struggles of other texans. she will join us next. texans she will join us next.

(burke) at farmers, we know how nice it is to save on your auto policy. but it's even nicer knowing that if this happens... ...or this... ...or even this... ...we've seen and covered it. so, call 1-800-farmers and get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ ♪♪ here's to the duers. to all the people who realize they can du more with less asthma thanks to dupixent, the add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. dupixent isn't for sudden breathing problems. it can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as 2 weeks and help prevent severe asthma attacks. it's not a steroid but can help reduce or eliminate oral steroids. dupixent can cause serious allergic reactions including anaphylaxis. get help right away if you have rash,

shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection and don't change or stop your asthma treatments, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. are you ready to du more with less asthma? talk to your asthma specialist about dupixent. if your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. washed your hands a lot today? probably like 40 times. hands feel dry? like sandpaper. introducing new dove handwash, with 5 x moisturizer blend. removes germs in seconds, moisturizes for hours. soft, smooth. new dove handwash.

today president biden declared a state of emergency in texas, oklahoma and louisiana. his administration authorized fema to send water, blankets, and more to help those days after the storm first hit the region. the owner of this furniture store opened his door to freezing residents as a warming center. >> it was colder in my living room than inside the refrigerator. that's how told it was. >> the texas tribune reports nearly half of all texans,

nearly 14 million people are experiencing water disruptions. millions of under notices to boil their water before using it for drinking or cooking but others have no running water at all. in austin, officials are warning they could be without water for days. water issues have forced some hospitals to transfer patients, residents are also struggling to buy food, forced to wait in long lines at grocery stores only to find empty shelves once they get inside some of those stores. >> there's no water in the store. we only have like two cases of water left. we're trying to divide it between two families and it's really hard. we don't know what the next day is going to look like and that's the scary part. >> joining us now is former texas state senator wendy davis. senator davis, thank you very much for joining us tonight. you apparently have electricity now. we hope it lasts through the

next few minutes. what has your week been like so far and what does texas government need to do? >> it's been a stregful week, lawrence. thank you so much for having me on to talk about our experiences here in texas tonight. we in my home were without electricity from sunday until yesterday morning and we've been without water and continue to be without water right now. but we are so fortunate compared to so many in our state. i have a fireplace that i could be warmed by. i have a gas stove that i could still cook food on and plenty of candles to provide light and a friend's home who offered me an opportunity to go take a shower yesterday. but there are people living in conditions across the state still tonight who do not have electricity. here in austin about 40,000 people still without electric power. we've seen people talking about experiences in their home where

the temperatures inside their homes have dipped into the 30s and of course we know that people have gone to desperate measures to try to stay warm and they've lost their lives as a consequence of doing that. this is a colossal failure of leadership. of course eight natural occurrence in the sense that it's a weather-related incident and we can object about the big picture of climate change and how this sort of thing ought to be preventable, but even in the shorter, more immediate term, we have leaders here who have failed to make sure we are prepared for moments like this and it's costing texans their lives and there's honestly no excuse for it whatsoever. >> it's also costing apparently a huge amount of money for some people. ercot is the electric

reliability council of texas and then have left a wildly unregulated matter that has left thousands being exploited. i've heard accounts of people who heated their home last winter for a few hundred dollars who have been charged thousands of dollars a day to try to heat their homes this week. >> that's right. it's such a massive failure to regulate that fossil fuel industry here in texas. we had this experience back in 2011 when i was in the texas senate, we had a catastrophic winter weather occurrence like this during the super bowl, you may have remember. and as a legislature, we were really pushing to force the kind of accountability that ought to be in place to prevent this kind of severe weather disaster. of course secretary castro was talking a moment ago about some

of those things that need to happen. weatherization should be a required regulation of our energy providers. making sure that they have reserves on hand so that they have the extra fuel needed when they have these heightened requirements for power. and instead, what has happened in the last few days, six days ago as secretary of state castro was pointing out, the wholesale electricity provided to these energy provider was $30 an hour. in the last couple days it shot up to $9,000 an hour. there's no regulation in place to protect people from this kind of price gouging. so the whole system needs to be reviewed and we need to help texans understand that when republicans are talking about deregulation and staying away from regulation and how bad it is for them, this is exactly the kind of thing that happens because deregulation simply

means that fossil fuel providers are not going to be held to account and people unfortunately are going to be on the receiving end of that and in some instances a deadly receiving end of that. >> senator, there are people who are obviously going to be hit with massive bills, thousands and thousands of dollars for a few days of heat. they're not going to be able to pay those bills. this is going to create bankruptcies. is there any possibility of the texas government that created this problem somehow trying to deal with the problems that these people are going to face in trying to deal with those bills? >> well, there certainly should be and you probably saw in the last couple of days the governor saying he's going to call for, you know, a hearing and a review of ercot. but let me make it very clear to everyone who is watching. ercot answers to the state legislature. they answer to the governor.

he appoints the ercot board and they are regulated by the state. they don't make their own rules. the state makes those rules. and so the state leaders need to be held accountable for that. and it also obviously has to be said that people like senator ted cruz, instead of going to cancun on vacation with his family, ought to be here asking the very question that you just asked, lawrence, what are we're going to do to make sure that people who have already been harmed so tremendously by the dire weather conditions here aren't going to be harmed even further by getting price gouging bills at the end of all of this. >> wendy davis, thank you very much for joining us tonight. i'm glad you have at least electricity tonight. thank you very much. >> thank you, lawrence. >> and coming up, the manhattan district attorney has made a surprising move and just added a new prosecutor to the

investigation of donald trump, and that prosecutor has extensive experience investigating organized crime. former federal prosecutor andrew weisman joins us next. n joins u. i'm greg, i'm 68 years old. i do motivational speaking in addition to the substitute teaching. i honestly feel that that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did.

i've been taking prevagen for about three years now. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. we are the thrivers. women with metastatic breast cancer,... ...standing in the struggle. hustling through the hurt. asking for science, not sorrys. our time... ...for more time... ...has come. living longer is possible- and proven in women taking kisqali plus fulvestrant or a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor. kisqali is the only treatment in its class with proven overall survival results in 2 clinical trials. helping women live longer with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer. kisqali was also significantly more effective at delaying disease progression... ...versus a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant alone. kisqali can cause lung problems or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems,

and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness... ...yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills,... ...or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. avoid grapefruit during treatment. kisqali is not approved for use with tamoxifen. it's our time... ...to continue to shine. because we are the thrivers. ask your doctor about kisqali, the only treatment in its class proven to help women live longer in 2 clinical trials. it's time for the ultimate sleep number event on the sleep number 360 smart bed.

can it help with snoring? i've never heard snoring... exactly. no problem. and... done. and now, save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. plus, 0% interest for 24 months. only for a limited time. covid's still a threat. and on reopening schools, we know what happens when we don't put safety first. ignore proper ventilation or rates of community spread, and the virus worsens. fail to provide masks or class sizes that allow for social distancing, and classrooms close back down.

a successful reopening requires real safety and accountability measures. including prioritizing vaccines for educators. parents and educators agree: reopen schools. putting safety first. we have breaking news about the "new york times" from the manhattan district attorney's investigation against donald trump and the highly unusual move, the district attorney hired an expert in organized crime investigations to help lead the investigation of donald trump. mark pomeranz is a former federal prosecutor that the the "new york times" said, quote, has deep experience investigating and defending white-collar and organized crime cases. the "times" reports that mr. pomeranz was sworn in earlier this month to serve as a special assistant district attorney. he was a federal prosecutor in the early 1980s, then, "the

iems" reports in private practice developed a specialty in organized crime and was involved in a 1988 case that helps determine the legal definition of racketeering. mr. pomeranz returned manhattan district attorney's office to head the division overseeing major securities fraud and organized crime cases, perhaps most prominently against john a. gotti, the gambino boss. it was tweeted "mark pomeranz is the real deal. that would not be happening if there was not a where there. joining us is an msnbc legal analyst and andrew, i saw that the "new york times" headline. i didn't know anything about

mr. pomeranz. i read the story and saw your tweet and i realized this was a big deal. >> yeah. lawrence, i had the same reaction. it's useful for me to tell people why people like me and the new york law profession perked up with that story. mike pomeranz is a lion of the defense bar. it's not so much he had a career as a great prosecutor, he was the criminal chief in the southern district of new york at the same time i was the criminal chief in the eastern district of new york, but he has had an incredible career in the last couple decades as a white collar defense lawyer. i think this is really smart cy

vance. you want somebody who is really smart and has the chops to put the case together. he's not someone who is going to make a name for himself. although he may not be known to your viewers, he's somebody who has a glittering resumé and he's not doing this to make a name for himself, he's doing this to make a case. and i don't think he'd be leaving a lucrative private practice if this was something that was not going to go anywhere. >> i just want to make a point for the audience about how unusual this is. the district attorney's offices around the country, they have generally everybody they need to handle whatever comes their way within their jurisdictions and they don't very often reach out and say we need someone, we need someone special for this, especially the manhattan district attorney's office, which is by far the most high powered, most sophisticated

district attorney's office in america. it has jurisdiction over wall street, it has jurisdiction over the most complex range of human activity you can imagine, and they decided, they decided they needed help, they need to bring in someone special for this. >> well, you're absolutely right. this is unusual, but it also shows that cy vance is secure enough not to be the kind of prosecutor who says, don't worry, we know everything and we can do it on our own. as i said, having somebody who is that experienced as mark pomeranz on your team is a really smart move. one of the down sides of a prosecutor's office is you have a lot of young people who can be really eager and work really hard but sometimes get their pockets picked by experienced white collar defense lawyers and mike pomeranz is not going to

allow that to happen. i think for your viewers, they should really view this as things are heating up. you now have somebody on the team who is just superb. >> and we didn't learn anything more about the evidence today. we know that they are investigating possible business issues and tax issues with the trump organization. we know they're investigating payments to ivanka trump and others within that group. we understand that. this news was simply this is who has been added to the team. and if you're the trump defense team watching that development today, you know that things just got worse for you. >> absolutely. so two things that got worse for you are mark pomeranz joining the team and january 20th. because president trump is no longer the president and the advantages that he has in a court of law in terms of delaying things, in terms of

privileges disappeared on the 20th. so he is now like an ordinary citizen in terms of how cy vance is going to be looking at him and this looks like it's proceeding like any white collar case where you're looking at bank fraud and tax fraud and it's not that complicated where you're going to look to see is when you're dealing with the banks, are you artificially inflating assets and deflating debts and when you're dealing with tax officials in new york are you doing the opposite? you create a timeline that shows inconsistent statements. it's exactly what we did when we investigated paul manafort. having somebody like mark on the

team is what you want. >> coming up, our guest will join us to consider the severe weather that has disrupted covid-19 vaccination shipments across the country. dr. peter hotez will join us next. r hotez will join us next of two immunotherapies that works differently. it could mean a chance to live longer. opdivo plus yervoy is for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread and that tests positive for pd-l1 and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. opdivo plus yervoy is the first and only fda-approved combination of two immunotherapies opdivo plus yervoy equals... a chance for more starry nights. more sparkly days. more big notes. more small treasures. more family dinners. more private desserts. opdivo and yervoy can cause your immune system to attack healthy parts of your body during and after treatment. these problems can be severe and lead to death.

see your doctor right away if you have a cough; chest pain; shortness of breath; irregular heartbeat; diarrhea; constipation; severe stomach pain, nausea or vomiting; dizziness; fainting; eye problems; extreme tiredness; changes in appetite, thirst or urine; rash; itching; confusion; memory problems; muscle pain or weakness; joint pain; flushing; or fever. these are not all the possible side effects. problems can occur at the same time and some more often when opdivo is used with yervoy. tell your doctor about all medical conditions including immune or nervous system problems, if you've had or plan to have an organ or stem cell transplant, or received chest radiation. here's to a chance for more horizons. a chance to live longer. ask your doctor about chemo-free opdivo plus yervoy. thank you to all involved in our clinical trials. joint pain, swelling, tenderness. ask your doctor about chemo-free opdivo plus yervoy. my psoriasis. cosentyx works on all of this. cosentyx can help you look and feel better by treating the multiple symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability

to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine, or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. watch me! get real relief with cosentyx. it's either the assurance of a 165-point certification process. or it isn't. it's either testing an array of advanced safety systems. or it isn't. it's either the peace of mind of a standard unlimited mileage warranty. or it isn't. for those who never settle, it's either mercedes-benz certified pre-owned. or it isn't. the mercedes-benz certified pre-owned sales event. now through march 1st. shop online or drop by your local dealer today. to support local restaurants, we've been to every city.

including little rock and even worcester. and tonight... i'll be eating the chicken quesadilla from...tony's tex mex...in... katy. (doorbell) (giggle) do ya think they bought it? oh yeah. at philadelphia, we know what makes do ythe perfect schmear it? of cream cheese. the recipe we invented over 145 years ago and me...the world's best, and possibly only, schmelier. philadelphia. schmear perfection. feeling sluggish or weighed down? it could be a sign that your digestive system isn't working at its best. taking metamucil everyday can help. metamucil psyllium fiber gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. it also helps lower cholesterol and slow sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. so you can feel lighter and more energetic. metamucil. support your daily digestive health. take the metamucil two week challenge and feel lighter and more energetic. sign up today at metamucil.com. it's time for the ultimate sleep number event on the sleep number 360 smart bed.

can it help with snoring? i've never heard snoring... exactly. no problem. and... done. and now, save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. plus, 0% interest for 24 months. only for a limited time. severe winter weather is adding to the confusion and frustration of the country's vaccination efforts. hazardous road conditions have slowed deliveries at major distribution facilities in memphis, louisville and dallas, forcing many cities and states to delay or cancel vaccination appointments. here what's dr. anthony fauci told andrea mitchell earlier today. >> well, obviously it's an issue. it's been slowed down to some places going to a grinding halt. we're just going to have to make up for it, as soon as the weather lifts a bit and the ice melts and we can get the vaccine

into people's arms, we're going to have to make up for, it namely, do double time when this thing clears up. >> joining us from texas is dr. peter hotez from the baylor college of medicine and development of vaccine at the children's house in houston. i know it wasn't easy for you this week. tell us what you've been going through this week. have you suffered from the power failure and loss of water? >> just like the other stories you've heard, we've been without power and water for three days. we finally got it back on this afternoon. it's been a struggle. i can't say we're the worst off by any stretch. we do have a special needs adult daughter that adds to the challenges and that's been tough. but the power is back on now and a little bit of water so hopefully we will have turned the corner on this.

>> one more thing about texas before we get to the vaccine more generally and hospitals that have lost their water supply have had tremendous challenges in dealing with patients and what kind of chaos has that created in the medical system? >> well, it's the perfect storm of things. we've had our emergency room filled with patients. we had to bring in individuals who ordinarily would get dialysis at dialysis centers or dialysis at home. we've had water shortages in some hospitals across the state. we've had to deal with power outages in many hospitals and lack of sufficient backup generator support. so this has been really problematic. you know, it's like a domino effect. once a few things start to fall, then everything starts to fall apart and it's been a very troubling, chaotic time for us. >> what has happened to vaccine

distribution in the state of texas this week? >> my understanding is we've had to interrupt some of the shipments, either because the planes couldn't land because of the icy conditions and had to be rerouted and that may have happened in some instances or the fact that remember these two vaccines from pfizer and moderna have the deep freezer requirements. we hoped what we heard initially is this would be a one had much day event and we'd get back online tuesday and when each passing day the realization came that we have about a week delay. the consequences of that are really concerning because we're trying to vaccinate the u.s. population, including the population of texas ahead of this variant that's coming out of the united kingdom, the b-117

variant, which we think will start accelerating cases again. thousand there's new information posted by the u.k. government this week that the mortality rates, the death rates are higher with this variant. so we're in a race now to race against vaccinating the u.s. population before this variant takes over and that's what it's looking like basis on the emdeem logical models last year. >> do we have any reports of losing power and losing refrigeration for the vaccine and therefore losing vaccine? >> not necessarily hospitals but we've heard of instances where a lot of vaccine is going to go bad. there was a quick rush to vaccinate everybody we could find in order to not throw those vaccines away.

the message i've been sending in the state of texas is the worst thing can you do is throw vaccine away. don't throw any vaccine away, it's all good in terms of helping us interrupt transmission. people have to then that message. in one case at rice university there was that issue and rather than go to waste, the decision was made and i think it was a good one, they're here, the rice student, they're here, vaccinate them. it's certainly better than having is go to waste. >> this just adds to an already pronounced sense of frustration around the country with vaccine distribution. now those complications have been almost indescribable in texas. >> yeah, i mean, the truth is we're still at the very early stages of this. we've only given a single dose to about 12% of the population, about 40 million people. remember where we're want to get to. we want to interrupt rus

transmission, we're looking to have to vaccination people with two vaccines you're talking about half a billion immunizations and we've only gotten about 41 million. the and the biden administration put forward an excellent plan in place to do that, but then with the realization that the u.k. variant is gaining ascendancy, we had to make some quick adjustments and now we have to race ahead of the variant and try to do this by late spring, early summer. >> dr. peter hotez, thank you for joining us tonight and good luck getting through the rest of the week in texas. >> thanks, lawrence. appreciate being on. >> thank you. well, the first appearance on this program by jamie harrison in his new role as chair of the democratic national committee is coming up next. republicans and state legislatures across the country are now trying to make it more difficult to vote in their states.

jamie harrison will tell us what the democrats are doing about that. next. if you have risk factors like heart disease, diabetes and raised triglycerides,... ...vascepa can give you something to celebrate. ♪ vascepa, when added to your statin,... ...is clinically proven to provide 25% lower risk from heart attack and stroke. vascepa is clearly different. first and only fda approved. celebrate less risk. even for those with family history. ♪ don't take vascepa if you are... ...or become allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. serious side effects may occur like heart rhythm problems and bleeding. heart rhythm problems may occur in more people... ...with persistent cardiovascular risk or who have had them in the past. tell your doctor if you experience an irregular heartbeat or other heart rhythm problems. possible side effects include muscle and joint pain. celebrate less risk. added cardio protection. talk to your doctor about adding protection

with vascepa. talk to your doctor about adding protection my body is truly powerful. i have the power to lower my a1c. because my body can still make its own insulin. and trulicity activates my body to release it, lowering my blood sugar from the first dose. once-weekly trulicity responds when my body needs it, 24/7. trulicity is for type 2 diabetes. it's not insulin. it isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take trulicity if you're allergic to it, you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, changes in vision, or diabetic retinopathy. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with sulfonylurea or insulin raises low blood sugar risk. side effects include indigestion, fatigue, belly pain, decreased appetite, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting which can lead to dehydration and may worsen kidney problems. i have it within me to lower my a1c. ask your doctor about trulicity.

♪♪ it's velveeta shells & cheese versus the other guys. ♪♪ clearly, velveeta melts creamier. (burke) at farmers, we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. like how nice it is to switch and save on your auto policy. but it's even nicer knowing that if this happens... ...or this happens... ...or this... ...or even this... ...we've seen and covered it. so, call 1-800-farmers to switch your auto policy and you could save an average of four hundred seventy dollars. get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

the brennan center for justice reports republicans in state legislature across the country have introduced 165 bills to make voting more difficult in this country after high voter turnout delivered the presidency to joe biden. in south carolina republicans have introduced a bill in the state legislature to expand the state election commission and give republicans even more control over the election process in south carolina. joining us now, jamie harrison of south carolina who is the new chair of the democratic national committee. thank you very much for joining us tonight, mr. chairman. a real pleasure to have you here. >> thank you for having me, lawrence. >> so, your job, which, you know, for many years people thought of as voter turnout, voter turnout. you now have to fight for the

right to vote and maintaining the right to vote in your own state, south carolina, and around the country. >> lawrence, it's sad. you know, we send our sons and daughters overseas to fight for democracy for other nations and here in this country, the republicans find every way that they can to suppress the vote in this nation. our greatest right as american citizens is our right to vote, and we have to protect that. we need to expand that right so that more people can enjoy it. you know, just this past week the rnc launched their committee on election integrity. that's a joke. that's like having the foxes guard the hen house. there is no way that they understand or know what any integrity in elections look like. they have 165 bills in 33 states to take away the rights to vote for people here in this country, and it's just laughable to see that they want to be the party

on election integrity. >> so, what is your party's plan to counter this republican effort? and if some of those bills pass, will you need new get-out-the-vote techniques in those states? >> we will. but what i hope passes, lawrence, is hr-1 and the senate resolution 1, which is for the people act. this is a bill that was passed in the house last congress. we hope that it will get passed this congress and a signature by joe biden. it would expand voter rights and make sure we can open up voter registration, automatic registration, same-day registration, end these senseless purges. we have to do all we can to protect the right of all americans, so i'm proud of that legislation. we will be promoting that. in the meantime, the dnc has a voting protection effort that is geared up to fight back.

marc elias is our attorney. we're going to fight back against all of these oppressive laws we see in many of these states. >> so, georgia was, i guess, the biggest surprise state in the wins for joe biden this time around. of course, it was tracking in that direction. we started to see it moving that way over the last few years. what is the next georgia on your horizon? >> well, listen, i think texas is the next georgia. hopefully in a year or two, a few years, south carolina is the next georgia. you know, we haven't forgotten and aren't going to give up on florida. you know, the georgias and the arizonas, that's really going to be my focus over the court of the next four years as the dnc chair, to be planting the seeds in these states. that's why we're going to net a 50-state strategy going back to howard dean to strengthen our state parties so we can foster

the growth of these georgias and arizonas all across this great nation of ours. >> and how important is it for you to be concerned about local elections for state legislature, for mayors, small towns and cities around the country? >> those elections are extremely important, lawrence. i know we love to get caught up in what's going on in washington, d.c. with congress and the white house. but when the rubber meets the road, the things that are most important to the lives of the people, it's what happens on the state level. the folks in texas right now are feeling that. you know, because of the lack of leadership in their state, we need to make sure we're putting the right type of leaders in our state capitals, in our governor's mansions who will protect the interests of all people. just today here in south carolina, they passed a heartbeat bill, a bill basically banning abortion in the state basically protecting rapists and

invading women's rights. that's just uncalled for. particularly when we need to expand medicaid so that folks have health care. protect our rural hospitals. >> jamie harrison, thank you very much for joining us tonight. really appreciate it. >> thank you so much, lawrence, and take care. stay safe. >> thank you. chairman jamie harrison gets the last word. "the 11th hour" with brian williams starts now. xxxx >> well, good evening once again. this was day 30 of the biden administration. texans are enduring a fourth night of freezing misery in the wake of a winter storm that seems to have unleashed a growing humanitarian crisis in our own country. an act of god followed by an abject failure by man. meantime tonight, one man, ted cruz, is getting a whole lot of attention, none of it good, for leaving on